Northampton State Hospital

Images of America: Massachusetts

by Curator and Registrar for Lee Hall Mansion and Endview Plantation J Michael Moore M.a, Anna Schuleit Haber

Northampton State Hospital, established in 1856, was built with the optimistic spirit of humanitarian reform. For many years, it was run by Dr. Pliny Earle, a champion of treatment that combined individualized care with manual labor, religious worship, recreation, and amusement. This vision was overwhelmed as the hospital was called upon to care for ever-larger numbers of people with varying needs. By the mid-20th century, the hospital was an isolated small "city," with hundreds of employees caring for more than 2,000 patients in overcrowded and inadequate conditions. It became a nationally important center of political and legal struggle over the role of state hospitals in the care of the mentally ill. After being gradually phased out, the hospital was closed in 1993, and the buildings, though listed in the National Register of Historic Places, were demolished in 2006. This volume brings to life the 135-year story of Northampton State Hospital through beautiful and haunting photographs drawn from the collections of Historic Northampton, the city's local history museum.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

130 pages, Hardcover

First published October 27, 2014

Reviews

[DJ Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

The structure of this book was very similar to the historical account of the Danvers State Hospital by the same publisher (refer to that review). I greatly appreciated the historical facts and wonderful photos throughout. I would have liked more information on patient treatment and conditions - as it seemed to be merely “touched” upon. Overall, I rate it the same as I did the book on Danvers, and I recommend it for its historical value.

[Jackie Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts

Not bad. Wish there were more interior photographs of the rooms and of patients, and more information on why patients were committed over the years as I understand back in the day you could be comfortable ridiculously silly things, but overall a good read if you are interested in asylums. Really too bad it has been demolished. I just hope the graveyard has been saved.